Item detection and transitions

ABSTRACT

This disclosure describes a system for managing inventory as it transitions into a materials handling facility, as it transitions between locations within a materials handling facility and/or as it transitions out of a materials handling facility. In some instances, a user (e.g., picker or picking agent) may retrieve an item from an inventory location and place the item into a tote. The systems described herein detect the item when it is added to or removed from the tote.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/902,770, filed May 24, 2013, and titled Inventory Transitions, thecontents of which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

BACKGROUND

Retailers, wholesalers, and other product distributors typicallymaintain an inventory of various items that may be ordered, purchased,leased, borrowed rented, viewed, etc. by clients or customers. Forexample, an e-commerce website may maintain inventory in a fulfillmentcenter. When a customer orders an item, the item is picked frominventory, routed to a packing station, packed and shipped to thecustomer. Likewise, physical stores maintain inventory in customeraccessible areas (e.g., shopping area) and customers can pick items frominventory and take them to a cashier for purchase, rental, etc. Many ofthose physical stores also maintain inventory in a storage area, orfulfillment centers that can be used to replenish inventory located inthe shopping areas and/or to satisfy orders for items that are placedthrough other channels (e.g., e-commerce). Other examples of entitiesthat maintain inventory include libraries, museums, rental centers, andthe like. In each instance, for an item to be moved from one location toanother, it is picked from its current location and transitioned to anew location. It is often desirable to track the transition of inventoryand/or the location of inventory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similaror identical items or features.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a materials handling facility,according to some implementations.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating additional details of a materialshandling facility, according to some implementations.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4, 5 illustrate example tote configurations, according tosome implementations.

FIG. 6 illustrates example functional components of a tote, such asthose illustrated in FIGS. 3A-5, according to some implementations.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of a process for identifying the additionand/or removal of item identifier(s) from a tote, according to someimplementations.

FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of a process for identifying the additionand/or removal of item identifier(s) from a tote, according to someimplementations.

FIG. 9 depicts a flow diagram of a process for transitioning itemsincluded in a tote, according to some implementations.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an illustrative implementation of a serversystem that may be used with various implementations.

While implementations are described herein by way of example, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the implementations are notlimited to the examples or drawings described. It should be understoodthat the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended tolimit implementations to the particular form disclosed, but on thecontrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents andalternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by theappended claims. The headings used herein are for organizationalpurposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of thedescription or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word“may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potentialto), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly,the words “include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including, but notlimited to.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This disclosure describes a system for managing inventory as ittransitions into a materials handling facility, as it transitionsbetween locations within a materials handling facility and/or as ittransitions out of a materials handling facility. In some instances, auser (e.g., picker or picking agent) may retrieve an item from aninventory location and place the item into a tote. The systems describedherein detect the item when it is added to the tote. Likewise, when anitem is removed from the tote, the removal of that item is detected.

In some implementations, the tote may include an item identifier reader,such as a radio frequency identifier (“RFID”) reader, and a receivingcomponent, such as one or more antennas that read an item identifier(e.g., RFID) when the item is placed in and/or removed from the tote.The item identifier reader and receiving component may be part of thetote and in communication with a processor that adds or removes itemidentifiers from a tote identification list as the items are added orremoved from the tote.

When the tote reaches a transition area, such as a rebin station, packstation, another inventory location, shipping, etc. the items on thetote identifier list may be used to transition the inventory to a newlocation. For example, if the items in the tote are exiting thematerials handling facility to be shipped by a carrier to a customer,the transition area may be the area from which the items exit thematerials handling facility—such as a loading door where the items aretransitioned to the carrier's truck or other transportation unit. Whenthe tote reaches the transition area, the tote identifier list isretrieved and optionally the tote is scanned again to confirm that theitems identified in the tote identifier list match those actually in thetote. Any differences between the tote identifier list and a scan of thetote at the transition area may be resolved by a user (e.g., pickingagent, packer, customer, carrier) at the transition area. For example,any differences may be presented on a display at the transition area andthe user can confirm whether the item is actually included in the tote.

Once any differences have been resolved, the items are transitioned. Forexample, if the items are exiting the materials handling facility, theymay be transitioned from the materials handling facility to the entitythat is taking them from the materials handling facility. Continuingwith the above example of a carrier taking the items from a materialshandling facility for shipment to a customer, the items may betransitioned from the materials handling facility to the carrier. Asanother example, if the transition area is a rebin station within thematerials handling facility, the items may be transitioned from theoriginal storage location (or the tote) to the rebin area. As stillanother example, if the materials handling facility is a retail locationand the customer is purchasing items, when the customer leaves the store(transition area) the items may be transitioned from the materialshandling facility to the customer and the customer may be charged forthe items. In a similar manner, if the materials handling facility is arental location, or a library, the transition area may be near the exitof the facility. When the user leaves with items in a tote, the itemsare transitioned from the materials handling facility to the user thatis taking the items. In such a chase, a rental or borrow time may beassociated with the items and the user, identifying by when the itemsare to be returned.

As used herein, a materials handling facility may include, but is notlimited to, warehouses, distribution centers, cross-docking facilities,order fulfillment facilities, packaging facilities, shipping facilities,rental facilities, libraries, retail stores, wholesale stores, museums,or other facilities or combinations of facilities for performing one ormore functions of material (inventory) handling.

An implementation of a materials handling facility configured to storeand manage inventory items is illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown, amaterials handling facility 100 includes a receiving area 120, a storagearea 130 configured to store an arbitrary number of inventory items135A-135N, and one or more transition areas 140. The arrangement of thevarious areas within materials handling facility 100 is depictedfunctionally rather than schematically. For example, in someimplementations, multiple different receiving areas 120, storage areas130 and transition areas 140 may be interspersed rather than segregated.Additionally, the materials handling facility 100 includes an inventorymanagement system 150 configured to interact with each of receiving area120, storage area 130 and transition area 140.

The materials handling facility 100 may be configured to receivedifferent kinds of inventory items 135 from various suppliers and tostore them until a customer orders or retrieves one or more of theitems. The general flow of items through materials handling facility 100is indicated using arrows. Specifically, as illustrated in this example,items 135 may be received from one or more suppliers, such asmanufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, etc. at receiving area 120. Invarious implementations, items 135 may include merchandise, commodities,perishables, or any suitable type of item depending on the nature of theenterprise that operates materials handling facility 100.

Upon being received from a supplier at receiving area 120, items 135 maybe prepared for storage. For example, in some implementations, items 135may be unpacked or otherwise rearranged, and the inventory managementsystem 150 (which, as described below, may include one or more softwareapplications executing on a computer system) may be updated to reflectthe type, quantity, condition, cost, location or any other suitableparameters with respect to newly received items 135. It is noted thatitems 135 may be stocked, managed or dispensed in terms of countable,individual units or multiples of units, such as packages, cartons,crates, pallets or other suitable aggregations. Alternatively, someitems 135 such as bulk products, commodities, etc. may be stored incontinuous or arbitrarily divisible amounts that may not be inherentlyorganized into countable units. Such items 135 may be managed in termsof measurable quantities such as units of length, area, volume, weight,time duration or other dimensional properties characterized by units ofmeasurement. Generally speaking, a quantity of an item 135 may refer toeither a countable number of individual or aggregate units of an item135 or a measurable amount of an item 135, as appropriate.

After arriving through receiving area 120, items 135 may be storedwithin storage area 130. In some implementations, like items 135 may bestored or displayed together in bins, on shelves or via other suitablestorage mechanisms, such that all items 135 of a given kind are storedin one location. In other implementations, like items 135 may be storedin different locations. For example, to optimize retrieval of certainitems 135 having high turnover within a large physical facility, thoseitems 135 may be stored in several different locations to reducecongestion that might occur at a single point of storage.

When a customer order specifying one or more of items 135 is received,or as a user progresses through the materials handling facility 100, thecorresponding items 135 may be selected or “picked” from storage area130. In various implementations, item picking may range from manual tocompletely automated picking. For example, in one implementation a usermay have a list of items they desire and may progress through thematerials handling facility picking items 135 from the storage area 130and placing those items 135 into a tote. In other implementations,materials handling facility employees may pick items 135 using writtenor electronic pick lists derived from customer orders and place pickeditems into a tote as the materials handling facility agent progressesthrough the materials handling facility 100.

As discussed in more detail below, as items are picked and placed in atote, the tote may be configured to identify the items placed in thetote and manage a tote item identifier list that includes an identifierof each item. After items 135 have been picked and placed in a tote,they may be processed at transition area 140. A transition area may beany designated area within a materials handling facility where itemsincluded in the tote are transitioned from one location to another, orfrom one entity to another. For example, the transition area may be apacking station within the materials handling and when the tote arrivesat the packing station (transition area) the items may be transitionedfrom the storage area 130 to the packing station. Such information maybe maintained by the inventory management system 150 to enable accuratetracking of items. In another example, if the items are departing thematerials handling facility (e.g., a carrier is taking the items fortransport, a customer is purchasing or renting the items), when the totereaches the transition area the tote item identifier list is obtainedand the items are transitioned from the materials handling facility tothe new entity (e.g., carrier, customer).

To further illustrate, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of additional detailsof a materials handling facility 100, according to some implementations.A materials handling facility agent, customer, or other individual mayutilize a tote 202 to progress through a materials handling facility 100to pick items 135 from storage areas 130. As items 135 are picked andplaced into the tote, an item identifier (e.g., RFID) located on theitem is detected and added to a tote item identifier list thatidentifies the items included in the tote 202. In some implementations,as discussed further below, the tote 202 may include an item identifierreader, such as an RFID reader, and a receiving component, such as oneor more antennas that periodically or continuously scan the inside ofthe tote for item identifiers. Generally, the item identifier readerand/or the receiving component may utilize one or more wirelesstechnologies (e.g., RFID, near field communication (“NFC”), Bluetooth,infrared) to detect item identifiers. When an item identifier isdetected, a processor located on the tote 202 may receive the itemidentifier and record the item identifier in the tote item identifierlist which is maintained in a memory located on the tote 202 ormaintained by the inventory management system 150. Exampleimplementations of the tote 202 are provided below in more detail withreference to FIGS. 3A-6.

In some instances the tote 202 may operate in conjunction with or mayotherwise utilize or communicate with one or more components of theinventory management system 150. Likewise, components of the inventorymanagement system 150 may interact and communicate with the tote 202 aswell as identify the user that is utilizing the tote 202 and/orcommunicate with other components of the materials handling facility100.

Generally, the inventory management system 150 may include one or morecommunication devices, such as wireless antennas 204 that facilitatewireless communication (e.g., Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth) between theinventory management system 150 and the tote 202. The inventorymanagement system 150 may also include one or more server system 102that may be local to the materials handling facility 100, remote fromthe materials handling facility 100, or any combination thereof.

The inventory management system 150 may utilize antennas 204 within thematerials handling facility 100 to create a local wireless network(e.g., Wi-Fi) so that the tote 202 can connect to and communicate withthe inventory management system 150. Likewise, in instances when one ormore of the components of the inventory management system 150 are remotefrom the materials handling facility 100, they may communicate withother components of the inventory management system 150 and/or the tote202 via a network 206.

In some implementations, the tote 202 may be provided to the user (e.g.,materials handling facility agent) when the user arrives at thematerials handling facility 100. In such an instance, the user mayidentify themself to the inventory management system 150 and the tote202 may be associated with the user and/or user's account by associatinga unique identifier of the tote 202 with the identified user/useraccount. Once associated, the user may utilize the tote 202 to placepicked items into as the user progresses through the materials handlingfacility 100. When the user positions the cart in a transition area 140or progress with the cart through a transition area 140, the items inthe tote 202 may be transitioned from the materials handling facility tothe user, transitioned from the materials handling facility to acarrier, transitioned from one location (e.g., storage) within thematerials handling facility 100 to another location (e.g., packing)within the materials handling facility 100, etc.

When the user leaves the tote 202, such as at the end of a work day, theassociation between the tote 202 and the user may be removed so that thetote 202 can be reissued to another user when he/she arrives at thematerials handling facility 100.

The following is an example use case that utilizes the tote 202 in amaterials handling facility 100 to facilitate the picking and transitionof items from the materials handling facility. In this example, a useris a materials handling facility employee (e.g., picking agent) that hasa badge or other identifier that can be used to identify the user whenthey arrive at the materials handling facility.

Upon entering the materials handling facility 100, the user isidentified by the inventory management system 150 via a wireless networkand an antenna 204 accessible within the materials handling facility100. When the user selects a tote 202 for picking the tote 202 isidentified by the inventory management system 150 and a uniqueidentifier, for the tote 202 is associated with the user.

As the user moves around the materials handling facility 100 with thetote 202, picks items 135 from storage areas 130 and places the pickeditems into the tote 202, the tote identifies the items via an itemidentifier and includes the added items to a tote item identifier list.The tote item identifier list may also be transmitted to the inventorymanagement system 150 from the tote 202. For example, the tote 202 maycommunicate with the inventory management system 150 via the antenna 204and provide the tote item identifier list to the inventory managementsystem 150. In some implementations, the tote 202 may also send to theinventory management system 150 periodic updates to the tote itemidentifier list as the user adds and removes items from the tote 202.

When the user selects an item 135 from a storage location 130 and placesthe item in the tote 202, the tote 202 detects the addition of the itemand identifies the item. Likewise, when an item is removed from the tote202, the tote 202 detects the removal of the item and identifies theremoved item. When an item is identified as added to the tote 202, theitem identifier is added to the tote item identifier list. Likewise,when an item is removed from the tote, the corresponding item identifieris removed from the tote item identifier list. This process of addingand removing item identifiers from the tote item identifier listcontinues as the user progresses through the materials handling facility100 adding and removing items. Item addition, removal and identificationare discussed further below.

When the user reaches a transition area 140 within the materialshandling facility 100, the user and/or the tote 202 are identified, thetote item identifier list retrieved and the items transitioned. In someimplementations, a confirmation that the items identified on the toteitem identifier list are actually in the tote 202 may be performed atthe transition area 140. For example, the transition area 140 may alsoinclude an item identifier reader and an antenna 208 that scans the tote202 to detect the item identifiers included in the tote 202. Thedetected item identifiers may be provided to the inventory managementsystem 150 in the form of a confirmation item identifier list andcompared to those in the tote item identifier list. If the itemidentifiers included in the confirmation item identifier list matchthose of the tote item identifier list, the items may be transitioned.

Any differences between the items in the confirmation item identifierlist and the tote item identifier list may be presented to the user, oranother operator located at the transition area for resolution. Forexample, differences may be presented on a display 210 and the userand/or operator can verify the cart contents and interact with theinventory management system 150 to resolve the differences. For example,if the tote item identifier list includes an item that was not detectedat the transition area 140, the item may be identified via the display210 to the user/operator at the transition area 140. The user may verifyif the item is in the tote 202. If the item is in the tote, the user maynotify the inventory management system, such as through a receivingcomponent in communication with the inventory management system 150,that the item is in the tote 202. Once identified, the difference isresolved and the item is either included in the items that aretransitioned (if the item is in the tote) or not included in the itemsthat are transitioned (if the item is not in the tote).

In some implementations, the transition area 140 may also have otherinput/output components that are used to assist in verifying the itemsin the tote. For example, the transition area 140 may include a scale212 that is used to weigh the tote and the contained items. The totalweight may then be compared to an expected total weight and used asanother confirmation point as to whether the items identified in thetote item identifier list are actually in the tote. For example, theinventory management system 150 may maintain weight information in aninventory data store 214 and have knowledge of the weight of the tote.Utilizing this information and the tote item identifier list, theinventory management system 150 can compute an expected total weight forthe tote. The expected total weight for the tote may be compared to aweight determined by the scale 212. If the difference is beyond adetermined threshold (plus or minus), it may be determined that theitems actually included in the tote do not match those identified in thetote item identifier list.

In still another example, the transition area 140 may also include oneor more imaging components (not shown) that capture images of the toteand contained items. The images may be analyzed by the inventorymanagement system 150 and compared to images maintained in the inventorydata store 214 to assist in determining if the items actually includedin the tote correspond with those items identified in the tote itemidentifier list.

It will be appreciated that any number of analysis techniques may beutilized to assist in confirming that the items included in a tote 202correspond to those identified in a tote item identifier list, and theones illustrated herein are provided only as examples.

As discussed above, the tote 202 may communicate with the inventorymanagement system 150 over a variety of communication paths. Generally,the inventory management system 150 may include any number andcombination of input components, output components and server system102. The input components may include an imaging devices, microphones,antennas 204, 208, or any other component that is capable of receivinginput about it surrounding environment, from the tote 202 and/or fromusers. The output components may include projectors, displays 210,antennas 204, 208, speakers and/or any other component that is capableof providing output to its surrounding environment, the tote and/orusers.

The inventory management system 150 may also include a server system102. The server system 102 may be local to the materials handlingfacility 150, remote from the materials handling facility, or anycombination thereof. Likewise, the server system 102 may be configuredto communicate over a network 206 with the input components, outputcomponents and/or directly with the tote 202.

As illustrated, the server system 102 may be remote from the materialshandling facility and implemented as one or more servers 102(1), 102(2),. . . , 102(N) and may, in some instances form a portion of anetwork-accessible computing platform implemented as a computinginfrastructure of processors, storage, software, data access, and soforth that is maintained and accessible by components/device of theinventory management system 150 and/or the tote 202 via a network 206such as the Internet. The server system 102 does not require end-userknowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system thatdelivers the services. Common expressions associated for these remoteserver system 102 include “on-demand computing,” “software as a service(SaaS),” “platform computing,” “network-accessible platform,” “cloudservices,” “data centers,” and so forth.

The network 206 may utilize wired technologies (e.g., wires, USB, fiberoptic cable, etc.), wireless technologies (e.g., RF, IR, NFC, cellular,satellite, Bluetooth, etc.), or other connection technologies. Thenetwork 206 is representative of any type of communication network,including data and/or voice network, and may be implemented using wiredinfrastructure (e.g., cable, CAT5, fiber optic cable, etc.), a wirelessinfrastructure (e.g., RF, cellular, microwave, satellite, Bluetooth,etc.), and/or other connection technologies.

The server system 102 may also include an inventory data store 214, auser data store 216, and a tote data store 218. As discussed furtherbelow, the data stores may include lists, arrays, databases, and otherdata structures used to provide storage and retrieval of data. Likewise,while the disclosure describes multiple data stores, in someimplementations, the data stores may be configured as a single datastore or multiple data stores.

The inventory data store 114 maintains information about items 135stored in the storage areas 130 of the materials handling facility 100.For example, the inventory data store 214 may store for each item, theitems weight, dimensions, color, expiration date, volume, manufacturer,identifier (e.g., universal product identifier), quantity of items inthe storage area, description of the item, etc.

The user data store 216 includes information about users, such asmaterials handling facility employees, customers, etc. Any type ofinformation may be stored in the user data store 216. For example, userprofile information, such as attributes, name, address, gender, purchasehistory, social networks and/or friends with which the user interacts,and the like may be stored in the user profile data store 216. Userprofile information may be provided directly by users, such as when theybecome employed, collected from users when interacting with theinventory management system 150 and/or totes 202, etc.

The tote item identifier list data store 218 may include tote itemidentifier lists for each tote within the materials handling facility100. Likewise, the tote item identifier list data store 218 may includeinformation about each tote, such as the unique identifier, the weightof the tote, dimensions of the tote, etc.

The inventory data store 214, user data store 216, and tote data store218 may be integrated with the server system 102 or otherwisecommunicatively coupled with the server system 102. For example, one ormore of the inventory data store 214, user data store 216, and tote datastore 218 may be located at a remote computing resource (not shown) andcommunicatively coupled with the server system 102. In someimplementations, the inventory data store 214, user data store 216, andtote data store 218 may include one or more CD-RW/DVD-RW drives, harddisk drives, solid-state drives, tape drives, or other storage devicesthat are utilized to store digital content and information. The serversystem 102, separately or together with the inventory data store 214,user data store 216 and tote data store 218 may provide an inventorymanagement system 150.

The organization and operation of the materials handling facility 100described above is given as an example. In other implementations, amaterials handling facility 100 may be arranged differently and operatedifferently than described above. For example, some implementations ofmaterials handling facility 100 may not have a dedicated receiving area120. In such implementations received items may be place directly intothe storage area 130. In general, the materials handling facility 100may employ any organization and operational flow for handling inventory.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4, 5 illustrate example tote configurations, according tosome implementations. Turning first to FIG. 3A, the tote 302 may includea base surface 303 and a plurality of side surfaces 304, 306, 308, 310coupled to the base surface 303 and positioned to define a cavity intowhich items may be placed. In the examples described herein, the toteshave four side surfaces 304-310 that are coupled to the base surface 303to form a cavity having a cube shape. In other implementations,different configurations, numbers and shapes of the base surface 303 andside surfaces 304-310 may be utilized to form any variety, shapes andsizes of cavities. Likewise, the surfaces and/or base of the tote may beof any type of material and have any type of shape, texture and/or size.For example, the surfaces and/or base may be steel, mesh, plastic,metal, etc. In some implementations, one or more of the surfaces and/orbase may be of different materials. Generally, the tote may be anystructure element into which one or more items may be placed and/orstored. For example, a tote may be a bag, bin, cart, package, box, bowl,etc.

The tote 302 may also include one or more rollers 312, 314, 316, 318 orwheels to assist a user in propelling the tote 302 through a materialshandling facility. Likewise, in some implementations the tote 302 may bemotorized to assist in propulsion of the tote 302. In still otherimplementations, the tote 302 may not include rollers 312-318 butinstead may be carried by a user. For example, the tote 302 may beconfigured with one or more handles that enable the user to carry thetote 302 throughout the materials handling facility.

Regardless of the configuration, the tote 302 may include one or moreitem identifier readers and receiving components 320. For example, theitem identifier reader may be a RFID reader, such as a Motorola FX7400,a Motorola MC3190-Z, a Skyetek Module M10, and the like. Likewise, theantenna may be one or more directional antennas, such as a Laird S9025Pantenna.

The tote 302 may also include additional functional components 322, suchas a processor, computer-readable media, memory, power, etc. Examplefunctional components 322 of a tote are discussed further below withrespect to FIG. 6. The functional components may be in communicationwith the item identifier reader and receiving component 320 and providepower to the item identifier reader and receiving component 320. When anitem identifier is detected by the item identifier reader and receivingcomponent 320 it may be provided to the functional components 322 foradditional processing. For example, the functional components may addthe detected item identifier to a tote item identifier list that ismaintained in a memory of the functional components 322. In someimplementations, the functional components 322 may also provide the toteitem identifier list and/or the received item identifiers individuallyto the inventory management system 150.

The item identifier reader and receiving component 320 may be configuredto detect the presence of item identifiers located within the cavity ofthe tote 302, but not detect item identifiers not located in the cavityof the tote 302. For example, if the item identifier is a passive RFID,which receives power from the item identifier reader and receivingcomponent 320, the transmitted power and/or the receiving range of thereceiving component 320 may be adjusted such that it will only providepower to item identifiers located within the cavity of the tote 302. Forexample, the power of the item identifier reader and receiving component320 may be adjusted such that the radiated power only extends to theedges or sides of the tote 302. However, in some configurations, such asthat illustrated in FIG. 3A, if the tote 302 is not round shaped,portions of the radiation pattern will extend beyond the cavity of thetote, which could result in item identifiers not within the cavity ofthe tote 302 being detected.

To reduce the likelihood of detecting item identifiers not within thecavity of the tote 302, in some implementations, the sides 304-310 ofthe tote may include a radiation shield, such as aluminum, copper, orany other material that eliminates or reduces radio frequency radiation.The top down view 324 of the tote 302 illustrates the radiation patternfrom the item identifier reader and receiving component 320 when ashield is included on the sides of the tote 302. As illustrated, ratherthan the pattern propagating beyond the cavity of the tote 302, theshield included on the walls of the tote of eliminates the radiationbeyond the sides of the tote 302 so that item identifiers not located inthe cavity of the tote will not be detected.

In other implementations, rather than or in addition to includingshields on the sides of the tote, multiple antennas may be used with theitem identifier reader. For example, FIG. 3B is a block diagram of atote 302 with multiple receiving components 340, 342 located on the basesurface of the tote 302. By utilizing multiple receiving componentspositioned within the tote 302, the power radiated from each receivingcomponent can be reduced, yet the radiation pattern will still cover thecavity of the tote and detect item identifiers included in the cavity ofthe tote. Referring to the top-down view 344 of FIG. 3B, withoutshielding on the sides of the tote 302, with multiple receivingcomponents 340, 342 the amount of area beyond the tote 302 that iswithin the radiation of the receiving components 340, 342 is reduced,thereby reducing the likelihood if detecting item identifiers that arenot within the cavity of the tote 302. While the example illustrated inFIG. 3B utilizes two receiving components 340, 342 any number ofreceiving components may be utilized.

In addition to shielding the sides of the tote and/or utilizing multipleantennas, in some implementations, additional techniques may be used toreduce the likelihood of including items on the tote item identifierlist that are not in the cavity of the tote 302. For example, the itemidentifier reader may be configured to only scan for items while thetote 302 is in motion. In such an implementation, the functionalcomponents 322 may include an accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and/orother form of motion detection component and instruct the itemidentifier reader to only scan for item identifiers when the cart is inmotion. In such an implementation, the likelihood of detecting an itemidentifier that is not in the tote 302 as the tote passes by the itemidentifier is greatly reduced because the item identifier will onlypotentially be within range of the item identifier reader and receivingcomponent 320 for a brief instance. To further this implementation, itmay also be required that an item be detected for a certain period oftime (e.g., 5 seconds) before it is considered within the tote cavity302.

In still other implementations, it may be required that an itemidentifier be detected multiple times before it is included in the toteitem identifier list. For example, if the item identifier reader andantenna periodically scan for item identifiers, each time an itemidentifier is detected a count of the number of detections ismaintained. In such an implementation, a predetermined threshold mayexist and the item identifier may only be added to the tote itemidentifier list when the count of the number of times the itemidentifier has been detected meets or exceeds the predeterminedthreshold.

FIG. 4 provides yet another block diagram of a tote 402 that may be usedwith the various implementations described herein. In this example, thetote 402 may include two receiving components 404, 406. In oneimplementation, the receiving components may be loop antennas, such asTimes-7 Slimline A8060 antennas. The receiving components 404, 406 maybe coupled to the sides of the tote such that each antenna's radiationpattern defines a plane within the cavity of the tote 402 that issubstantially parallel with the base surface 403 of the tote 402. In oneimplementation the upper most, or top receiving component 404 may bepositioned at or near the top of the tote 402 and the second receivingcomponent 406 may be positioned at a point separated from the firstreceiving component and below the first receiving component. Forexample, the second receiving component 406 may be positioned around thesides of the tote 402 at a half-way point between the top of the toteand the base surface of the tote. In other implementations, the secondreceiving component 406 may be positioned only a few centimeters fromthe first receiving component 404. The only limitation in positioningthe receiving components 404, 406 is that there is sufficient separationsuch that a time difference may be determined as to when an item passesthrough the receiving components.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, when an item is placed into orremoved from the tote 402 it will pass through each plane of thereceiving components 404, 406, thereby activating the receivingcomponents 404, 406. The receiving components 404, 406 detect the itemidentifier as it passes through the respective planes. When the plane isinterrupted and the item identifier detected, such information may beprovided to the functional components 422 of the tote. In this example,in addition to providing the detected item identifier, a timestamp mayalso be provided identifying a time when the item passed through theplane of the receiving component 404, 406. As discussed further belowwith respect to FIG. 8, based on the timestamps received from eachreceiving component 404, 406 it may be determined whether the detecteditem identifier was added to or removed from the tote 402. For example,if the plane of the top receiving component 404 was interrupted beforethe plane of the lower receiving component 406, it may be determinedthat an item was added to the tote 402. In comparison, if the plane ofthe lower receiving component 406 was interrupted before the plane ofthe top receiving component 404, it may be determined that the item wasremoved from the tote 402.

In some implementations, in addition to or as an alternative to usingthe receiving components to detect the item identifiers, in someimplementations the tote 402 may also include a receiving componentlocated on the base surface of the tote that is utilized by the itemidentifier reader to detect item identifiers, as illustrated in FIG. 5.FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a tote 502 that includes two receivingcomponents 504, 506 positioned around the sides of the tote 502, eachdefining a plane that is substantially parallel with a base surface 503of the tote 502. In addition, the tote 502 includes a receivingcomponent 520 that communicates with an item identifier reader includedin the functional components 522 of the tote 502. As with the otherexamples, the item identifier reader, rather than being separate fromthe receiving components 520 may be included with or include thereceiving component 520.

While the examples discussed above refer to the planes of the receivingcomponents being substantially parallel with the base surface of thetote, in other implementations the planes may not be substantiallyparallel with the base surface of the tote. Generally, the planes may beat any angle with respect to the base surface of the tote and/or eachother. The only constraint is that the planes of the receivingcomponents be positioned such that when an item identifier is added toor removed from the tote, it will pass through at least two planes.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the addition and removal of itemsmay be detected by activation of the planes of the receiving components504, 506 and the receiving component 520 may be utilized to detected anew item identifier (when an item is added to the tote) or the removalof an item identifier (when an item is removed from the tote). In suchan implementation, the receiving components 504, 506 may be anycomponent that is capable of detecting whether an item identifier haspassed through its plane and provide information to the functionalcomponents 522 identifying a timestamp or other identifier that can beused to determine whether the item identifier passed through the planeof the top receiving component or the lower receiving component first.

The receiving component 520 may communicate with the item identifierreader and operate in a manner similar to that discussed above withrespect to FIGS. 3A, 3B to detect the addition and/or removal of itemidentifiers from the tote 502. Similarly, like the totes described withrespect to FIGS. 3A, 3B, the sides of the tote 502 may be shieldedand/or multiple receiving components 520 may be positioned within thetote 502. Likewise, additional processes, such as only scanning for itemidentifiers while the tote 502 is in motion or maintaining a countthreshold that must be exceeded before an item is considered added tothe tote 502, may also be utilized. In general, the configurations andexamples described with respect to FIGS. 3A, 3B, 4, and 5 may becombined and/or used separately with the implementations describedherein. FIGS. 7-9 provide additional examples and description regardingthe implementations described herein for utilizing the totes inconjunction with the inventory management system 150 to manage inventorywithin a materials handling facility.

FIG. 6 illustrates example functional components of a tote 602, such asthose illustrated in FIGS. 3A-5, according to some implementations. Thefunctional components of the tote 602 include one or more processors 603and computer-readable media 604. The computer-readable media 604 mayinclude volatile and nonvolatile memory, removable and non-removablemedia implemented in any method or technology for storage ofinformation, such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, tote item inventor lists, user profiles, or other data.Such memory includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory or other memory technology. The computer-readable media 604 maybe implemented as computer-readable storage media (“CRSM”), which may beany available physical media accessible by the processor(s) 602 toexecute instructions stored on the media 604. In one basicimplementation, CRSM may include random access memory (“RAM”) and Flashmemory. In other implementations, CRSM may include, but is not limitedto, read-only memory (“ROM”), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (“EEPROM”), or any other tangible medium which can beused to store the desired information and which can be accessed by theprocessor(s) 602.

Several modules such as instruction, data stores, and so forth may bestored within the computer-readable media 604 and configured to executeon the processor(s) 602. A few example functional modules are shownstored in the computer-readable media 604, although the samefunctionality may alternatively be implemented in hardware, firmware, oras a system on a chip (SOC).

An operating system module 606 may be configured to manage hardware andservices within and coupled to the tote 602 for the benefit of othermodules. A communication module 610 facilitates communication, such ascellular communication, RF communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetoothcommunication, NFC, satellite-based communication, and so forth. Forexample, the communication module 610 may facilitate communication withthe inventory management system 150 via the network 206 or over anotherwired and/or wireless communication path. Likewise, the communicationmodule 610 may facilitate communication and detection of itemidentifiers. Other local modules 612 may also be present on the tote602, depending upon the implementation and configuration of the tote602.

The tote 602 may also include a plurality of applications 614 stored inthe computer-readable media 604 or otherwise accessible to the tote 602.In this implementation, the applications 614 include an item identifierdiscovery 616 and other applications 618. However, the tote 602 mayinclude any number or type of applications and is not limited to thespecific example shown here. The item identifier discovery 616application may facilitate item identifier discovery as items are addedto and/or removed from the tote 602. Data stores may also be storedlocally on the media 604, including a tote item identifier list datastore 624 and one or more user profiles 626 of users that haveinteracted with and/or use the tote 602. The tote item identifier listdata store 624 may include a list of item identifiers that have beendetected as present with the cavity of the tote 602 and/or a count of anumber of times each item identifier 602 has been detected. The userprofile(s) data store 626 may include user characteristics, preferences,pick lists, usage history, purchase history, and other informationspecific to an individual user.

The tote 602 may also include a display, such as a touch screen display628, as well as other input devices, like a keypad, control buttons,microphones, motion detection components, etc. Output devices 632 mayinclude a display, an illumination element (e.g., LED), a vibrator tocreate haptic sensations, microphone(s) or the like. The tote 602 mightfurther include an item identifier reader 633, such as an RFID readerthat couples to a receiving component 630 to facilitate detection ofitem identifiers. Likewise, the tote 602 might include a wireless unit634 coupled to another antenna to facilitate a wireless connection toone or more networks, such as the network 206. The wireless unit 634 mayimplement one or more of various wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi,Bluetooth, RF, and so on.

The tote 602 may also include an embedded unique identifier 636. Theunique identifier may be embedded into a memory 604 of the wearabledevice 305 or otherwise stored and accessible by the tote 602.

The tote 602 may also be equipped with multiple active components 638.Any number of components may be used. Representative components includeimaging elements 640, sensors 642 and other active components 644. Thetote 602 may also include some form of power supply 646, such as abattery, solar power, or other form of power supply for providing powerto the tote 602 and its components during operation.

While the functional components of the example tote 602 are discussedherein as part of the tote 602, in other implementations, one or more ofthe functional components may be distributed throughout the materialshandling facility 100 and/or implemented as part of the inventorymanagement system 150. For example, one or more of the applications,such as the item identifier discovery application 616 may be implementedas part of the inventory management system 150. In such an example, whenthe item identifier reader 433 detects an item identifier, it may beprovided directly to the inventory management system 150 and theinventory management system may discover the item and add the itemidentifier to the tote item identifier list. Likewise, the tote itemidentifier list 624 may be maintained in the computer-readable media 604of the tote 602 and/or in the tote item identifier list data store 218of the inventory management system 150.

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram of an example process 700 for identifyingthe addition and/or removal of item(s) from a tote, according to someimplementations. The example process 700 may be implemented with any ofthe tote configurations discussed above. The process of FIG. 7 and eachof the other processes discussed herein may be implemented in hardware,software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, thedescribed operations represent computer-executable instructions storedon one or more computer-readable media that, when executed by one ormore processors, perform the recited operations. Generally,computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, and the like that perform particularfunctions or implement particular abstract data types.

The computer-readable media may include non-transitory computer-readablestorage media, which may include hard drives, floppy diskettes, opticaldisks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories(RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, flash memory, magnetic or optical cards,solid-state memory devices, or other types of storage media suitable forstoring electronic instructions. In addition, in some implementationsthe computer-readable media may include a transitory computer-readablesignal (in compressed or uncompressed form). Examples ofcomputer-readable signals, whether modulated using a carrier or not,include, but are not limited to, signals that a computer system hostingor running a computer program can be configured to access, includingsignals downloaded through the Internet or other networks. Finally, theorder in which the operations are described is not intended to beconstrued as a limitation, and any number of the described operationscan be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement theprocess.

The example process 700 begins by scanning for item identifiers, as in702. For example, a tote may be configured to include an item identifierreader and one or more receiving components (e.g., antennas) that can beused to scan for item identifiers. In some implementations, the itemidentifiers utilized in a materials handling facility may be passiveRFID readers. The item identifier reader and antenna may scan for itemidentifiers and those within range of the receiving component mayreceive power from the receiving component such that they can bedetected. In other implementations, the item identifiers may beself-powered, or partially self-powered such that they are detectable.

Based on the item identifiers detected during the scan, a detected itemidentifier list may be generated, or updated if one already exists, asin 704. The detected item identifier list may include each itemidentifier detected while scanning for item identifiers along with acount as to the number of times the item identifier has been detected.For each detected item identifier that is already in the detected itemidentifier list it may have its identifier count increased, as in 706.Likewise, a determination may be made as to whether any new itemidentifiers were detected during the scan, as in 708. New itemidentifiers may be any detected item identifiers that are not alreadyincluded on the detected item identifier list.

If it is determined that new item identifiers were detected during thescan, the item identifiers are added to the detected item identifierlist and the corresponding item identifier count is set to 1, as in 710.If it is determined that no new item identifiers were detected, or afteradding new item identifiers to the detected item identifier list, it maybe determined whether a count for any item identifiers not alreadyincluded on a tote item list exceed an add to tote threshold, as in 712.As discussed above, to improve accuracy of item identifiers included ona tote item identifier list, an add to tote threshold may be establishedand an item identifier only added to the tote item identifier list whenthe count for that item identifier exceeds the threshold. The add totote threshold may be any determined value. In some implementations,that add to tote threshold may be zero such that the first time an itemidentifier is detected it is added to the tote item identifier list. Inother implementations, the add to tote threshold may be any numbergreater than zero, and the item identifier will only be added to thetote item identifier list when the identifier count meets or exceedsthat threshold.

If it is determined that the identifier count for an item identifier notalready included on the tote item identifier list meets or exceeds theadd to tote threshold, the item identifier may be added to the tote itemidentifier list, as in 714. However, if it is determined that theidentifier count does not meet or exceed the threshold, or after addingitems with identifier counts that do meet or exceed the item identifierthreshold to the tote item identifier list, a determination may be madeas to whether any item identifiers in the detected item identifier listwere not detected, as in 716. If there were no missing item identifiers,the example process 700 may return to block 702 and continues. However,if it is determined that an item identifier included on the detecteditem identifier list was not detected during the scan for itemidentifiers, the identifier count for that item identifier may bedecreased, as in 718, and a determination may be made as to whether thecount for any item identifiers on the tote item identifier list hasfallen blow a remove from tote threshold, as in 720.

In some implementations, the add to tote threshold and the remove fromtote threshold may be the same value and/or the same threshold. In otherimplementations, the value of the add to tote threshold and the value ofthe remove from tote threshold may be different. Like the add to totethreshold, the remove from tote threshold may be any determined value.For example, the remove from tote threshold may have a value of zero. Solong as the identifier count for an item identifier that has alreadybeen added to the tote item identifier list is greater than zero, theitem identifier will remain in the tote item identifier list. In otherimplementations, the remove from tote item identifier list may be anyvalue greater than zero. In still other implementations, rather than acount value, the remove from tote threshold may consider how many scanshave been performed successively in which the item identifier has notbeen detected. For example, the remove from tote threshold may be setsuch that an item identifier will be removed from the tote itemidentifier list if the scan for item identifiers (block 702) isperformed five times and the item identifier is not detected in any ofthose scans.

If it is determined that the count for an item identifier included inthe tote item identifier list is below the remove from tote threshold,the item identifier is removed from the tote item identifier list, as in722. After removing the item identifier from the tote item identifierlist, or if it is determined that the identifier count has not fallenbelow the remove from tote threshold, the example process returns toblock 702 and continues. The example process 700 may be performed on aperiodic basis, continually, or upon the occurrence of particular events(e.g., the tote is moving, the addition and/or removal of an item isdetected).

FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram of an example process 800 for identifyingthe addition and/or removal of item(s) from a tote, according to someimplementations. The example process 800 may be implemented with thetote configurations discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5. Theexample process 800 begins when two or more receiving components of atote are activated, as in 802. For example, if the tote has two loopantennas (receiving component s) positioned within the tote such thateach defines a plane substantially parallel to the base surface of thetote, when an item is added to or removed from the tote, both loopantennas will be activated as the item passes through the respectiveplanes.

Upon detection of two or more receiving components of the tote beingactivated, the item identifier that caused the receiving components tobe activated is identified, as in 804. For example, if the receivingcomponents are loop antennas that are in communication with the itemidentifier receiver, the item identifier may be detected as the itempasses through each plane. In an alternative implementation, the itemidentifier may be determined utilizing the example process 700. Inaddition to identifying the item identifier, it may be determinedwhether the top receiving component was activated first, as in 806. Forexample, time stamps or other identifiers that indicate when thereceiving component was activated may be compared to determine whichreceiving component was activated first. If it is determined that thetop receiving component was activated first, which means and item wasadded to the cart, the identified item identifier may be added to thetote item identifier list, as in 808. However, if it is determined thatthe top receiving component was not activated first, which means theitem was removed from the cart, the item identifier may be removed fromthe item identifier list, as in 810.

FIG. 9 depicts a flow diagram of an example process 900 fortransitioning items included in a tote, according to someimplementations. The example process begins when a tote enters atransition area, as in 902. A tote may be identified in a transitionarea based on a unique identifier associated with the tote and/or basedon the user that is associated with the tote. Upon identifying the tote,the tote item identifier list for that tote is obtained, as in 904. Insome implementations, the user identifier and/or user account may alsobe determined. In some implementations, the tote item identifier list ismaintained in the memory of the tote and when the tote is identified asin the transition area, the tote item identifier list may be provided tothe inventory management system. In other implementations, the tote itemidentifier list may be maintained by the inventory management system. Instill other implementations, the tote item identifier list may bemaintained by both the tote and the inventory management system.

The example process 900 may also determine whether to confirm that theitems in the tote correspond with the items identified on the tote itemidentifier list, as in 906. If it is determined that the tote contentsare to be confirmed, the tote may be scanned and a confirmation itemidentifier list may be generated, as in 910. For example, a higher poweritem identifier reader and antenna may be located within the transitionarea that is in communication with the inventory management system thatscans the tote to identify the item identifiers located in the tote. Insome implementations, the antenna may be positioned on the ceiling,floor and/or wall of the transition area such that it can scan the totefor item identifiers as it enters the transition area.

Once the tote has been scanned in the transition area and a confirmationitem identifier list generated, the item identifiers on the confirmationitem identifier list may be compared with the items on the tote itemidentifier list and a determination made as to whether the items on thetwo lists match, as in 912. If there is a difference between the itemidentifiers listed on the confirmation item identifier list and the toteitem identifier list, the differences may be presented to the userand/or an operator located in the transition area, as in 914. Forexample, any differences may be presented on a display located in thetransition area and the user and/or operators can manually resolve thedifferences by selecting whether the item is included in the tote ornot, as in 916.

Once any differences have been resolved, if it is determined that allitems on the confirmation item identifier list and the tote itemidentifier list match, or if it is determined not to confirm thecontents of the tote, the items identified in the tote item identifierlist are transitioned, as in 908. For example, if the items are exitingthe materials handling facility, the items may transition from thematerials handling facility to a new owner, carrier, etc. that is takingthe items from the materials handling facility. If the items aretransitioning from one location to another within the materials handlingfacility the items may be transitioned between those locations.

FIG. 10 is a pictorial diagram of an illustrative implementation of aserver system, such as the server system 102, that may be used in theimplementations described herein. The server system 102 may include aprocessor 1000, such as one or more redundant processors, a videodisplay adapter 1002, a disk drive 1004, an input/output interface 1006,a network interface 1008, and a memory 1012. The processor 1000, thevideo display adapter 1002, the disk drive 1004, the input/outputinterface 1006, the network interface 1008, and the memory 1012 may becommunicatively coupled to each other by a communication bus 1010.

The video display adapter 1002 provides display signals to a localdisplay (not shown in FIG. 10) permitting an operator of the serversystem 102 to monitor and configure operation of the server system 102and/or to resolve differences between items identified in a tote itemidentifier list and a confirmation item identifier list. Theinput/output interface 1006 likewise communicates with externalinput/output devices not shown in FIG. 10, such as a mouse, keyboard,scanner, or other input and output devices that can be operated by anoperator of the server system 102. The network interface 1908 includeshardware, software, or any combination thereof, to communicate withother computing devices. For example, the network interface 1908 may beconfigured to provide communications between the server system 102 andother computing devices, such as tote, via the network 206, as shown inFIG. 2.

The memory 1012 generally comprises random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, and/or other volatile or permanentmemory. The memory 1012 is shown storing an operating system 1014 forcontrolling the operation of the server system 102. A binaryinput/output system (BIOS) 1016 for controlling the low-level operationof the server system 102 is also stored in the memory 1012.

The memory 1012 additionally stores program code and data for providingnetwork services that allow totes and/or the object management system150. Accordingly, the memory 1012 may store a browser application 1018.The browser application 1018 comprises computer executable instructions,that, when executed by the processor 1000 generate or otherwise obtainconfigurable markup documents such as Web pages. The browser application1018 communicates with a data store manager application 1020 tofacilitate data exchange between the inventory data store 214, the userdata store 216, and/or the tote item identifier list data store 218.

As used herein, the term “data store” refers to any device orcombination of devices capable of storing, accessing and retrievingdata, which may include any combination and number of data servers,databases, data storage devices and data storage media, in any standard,distributed or clustered environment. The server system 102 can includeany appropriate hardware and software for integrating with the datastores 214-218 as needed to execute aspects of one or more applicationsfor the tote 202, and/or the inventory management system 150.

The data stores 214-218 can include several separate data tables,databases or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing datarelating to a particular aspect. For example, the data stores 214-218illustrated include mechanisms for inventory information, userinformation, tote item identifier lists, tote information, etc. whichcan be used to generate and deliver information to totes 202, theinventory management system 150 and/or users.

It should be understood that there can be many other aspects that may bestored in the data stores 214-218. The data stores 214-218 are operable,through logic associated therewith, to receive instructions from theserver system 102 and obtain, update or otherwise process data inresponse thereto.

In addition to maintaining information about inventory, users, andtotes, the inventory management system 150 may provide use informationback to the users. For example, the inventory management system 150,through communication between the server system 102 and a tote, mayprovide use information back to a user. Such information may include alist of the items included in the tote, the cost of items included inthe tote, items remaining to be picked before the tote is to progress tothe transition area, the location within the materials handling facilityof items to be picked, and the like.

The memory 1012 may also include the inventory management system 150,discussed above. The inventory management system 150 may be executableby the processor 1000 to implement one or more of the functions of theserver system 102. In one implementation, the inventory managementsystem 150 may represent instructions embodied in one or more softwareprograms stored in the memory 1012. In another implementation, theinventory management system 150 can represent hardware, softwareinstructions, or a combination thereof.

The server system 102, in one implementation, is a distributedenvironment utilizing several computer systems and components that areinterconnected via communication links, using one or more computernetworks or direct connections. However, it will be appreciated by thoseof ordinary skill in the art that such a system could operate equallywell in a system having fewer or a greater number of components than areillustrated in FIG. 10. Thus, the depiction in FIG. 10 should be takenas being illustrative in nature and not limiting to the scope of thedisclosure.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described. Rather,the specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary forms ofimplementing the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:detecting at least one of a user or a tote in a transition area;scanning, with an item identifier reader located in the transition area,at least a portion of the transition area to determine one or more itemspositioned in the transition area; generating, based at least in part onthe scanning, an item list indicating the one or more items; presentinginformation corresponding to at least one of the one or more items tothe user; and transitioning the one or more items to the user, whereintransitioning includes charging the user for the one or more items. 2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein scanning at leastthe portion of the transition area includes scanning the tote for theone or more items positioned in the tote.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, further comprising: in response to detecting at leastone of the user or the tote, obtaining an item identifier listassociated with the user or the tote, the item identifier listindicating items picked by the user or included in the tote.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising: comparingthe item identifier list and the item list to determine whether the oneor more items indicated on the item list correspond to items indicatedon the item identifier list.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim4, further comprising: determining a difference between at least oneitem indicated on the item list and the item identifier list; and inresponse to determining the difference and prior to transitioning theone or more items to the user, resolving the difference.
 6. A system,comprising: an antenna configured to detect a plurality of itemidentifiers; a computing system in communication with the antenna, thecomputing system including: one or more processors; and a memory coupledto the one or more processors and storing program instructions that whenexecuted by the one or more processors cause the one or more processorsto at least: scan, with the antenna, at least a portion of a transitionarea to determine one or more items positioned in the transition area;generate, based at least in part on the scan, an item list indicatingthe one or more items; present, to a user, information corresponding tothe one or more items; and transition the one or more items to the user,wherein the transition includes charging the user for the one or moreitems.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the program instructions, whenexecuted by the one or more processors, further cause the one or moreprocessors to at least: detect at least one of the user or a tote in thetransition area.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein each item of the oneor more items include a radio frequency identifier (“RFID”) that isdetectable by the antenna.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein thetransition of the one or more items is part of a purchase of the one ormore items by the user.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein thetransition of the one or more items is part of a rental of the one ormore items.
 11. The system of claim 6, wherein the transition area is atan exit of a material handling facility.
 12. The system of claim 6,wherein the program instructions, when executed by the one or moreprocessors, further cause the one or more processors to at least:compare the item list with an item identifier list associated with atleast one of the user or a tote to determine whether the one or moreitems indicated on the item list correspond to items indicated on theitem identifier list; and in response to a determination of a differencebetween the item list and the item identifier list, present thedifference to at least one of the user or an operator.
 13. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the one ormore processors, further cause the one or more processors to at least:receive, in response to presentation of the difference, a resolution ofthe difference.
 14. The system of claim 6, wherein the programinstructions that when executed by the one or more processors totransition the one or more items to the user further includeinstructions, that when executed by the one or more processors furthercause the one or more processors to at least: transition an associationof an item identifier for each of the one or more items from aninventory position within a materials handling facility to the user. 15.The system of claim 6, wherein the program instructions that whenexecuted by the one or more processors to present informationcorresponding to the one or more items, further include programinstructions that when executed by the one or more processors furthercause the one or more processors to at least present the information ona display located in the transition area.
 16. A computer-implementedmethod for transitioning items of a materials handling facility,comprising: under control of one or more computing systems configuredwith executable instructions, receiving, from an antenna of a transitionarea, one or more item identifiers corresponding to one or more itemspositioned within the transition area of the materials handlingfacility; determining a user positioned within the transition area; andtransitioning an association of the item identifier from a firstinventory position within the materials handling facility to the user,wherein the transition includes charging the user for the one or moreitems.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, furthercomprising: presenting, to the user, information about the one or moreitems.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, furthercomprising: generating an item list that includes the one or more itemidentifiers; comparing the item list with an item identifier listassociated with the user, wherein the item identifier list includes itemidentifiers of items determined to have been picked by the user whilethe user was located in the materials handling facility; determining adifference between an item identifier indicated on the item list and theitem identifier list; and presenting the difference to the user.
 19. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 18, further comprising: receiving aresolution from the user confirming that an item corresponding to theitem identifier is at the transition area; and transitioning a secondassociation of the item identifier to the user.
 20. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 16, further comprising: detecting atote identifier corresponding to a tote positioned within the transitionarea; and wherein determining the user includes determining the userbased at least in part on the tote identifier.